Life-guard for street-cars.



Patented Oct. 1,1899.

R. F. PREUSSER.

HFE GUARD FDR STREET BARS.

{Applicationflled Jan. 21, 1899) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (No Model.)

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No. 634,834 Patntad Oct. :0, 1899.- 3. F.- PREUSYSEB. v

LIFE GUARD FOB STREET CABS.

. (Appliution 810d Inn. 21, 1899 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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RICHARD-F. PREUSSER, or WASHINGTO nis'raroror COLUMBIA.

LIFE-GUARD FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters IPatent at. 634,884, dated October 10, 1899.

Application filed ll'anuary 21,1399. Serial rokzoaste. (Nomodeld To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD F. PBEUSSER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improve-. ments in Life-Guards for Street-Oars,-of which the following is a specification ,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings This invention is designed to provide a lifeguard for steet-cars that shall be extremely light and simple in construction and be capable of attachment to cars of all construction, that shall be capable of a ready attachment and detachment from the car, and be capable of folding up close to thefront'dash board and in that position be out of the way of the coupling device's, all asmore fully hereinafter set forth.

A further essential object is to provide means for resiliently supporting the scoop portion so that the impact portion thereof will have a resilient bodily movement backward and downward when it comes into contact with an object on the track-bed, whereby the blow will not only be cushioned, but, the danger of the object struck passing under the scoop will be avoided, the body-being caught up and delivered into the receiving-net without serious injury.

Theinvention has other more minor objects in View that will appear' in the course'of this specification.w

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective.

Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a detail perspective showing a slight modification. 7

Referring to the drawings by letter, a, designates two vertical posts rigidly supported slightly in front of the car-platform and at tached thereto by suitable brackets or braces (4., one ofthese posts being at each side of the car'. Each post is provided at its upper end with a forward-projecting car i), provided with a hole for 'the reception of the downwardt urned end 0 of the upper cross-bar'dof the scoop. The lower end of each post is slotted vertically, and journaled in each of these slots is a pair of rollers e, the upper roller being preferably set off a little to the rear of the lower roller.

Working through these slots between the rollers are the rearward-extendingarms fof the scoop, the arms bearing and \vorking upon the rollers and being guided in their back-andforth movements by the slots. The rear ends of the arms are each provided with a downward-turned hook g, and

their forward ends are connected by trans verse rods h and i, the former being in front and the latter slightly in the rear at a point below the former, said rod t being provided with twoor more rollers j, which are adapted constructed ofrope or chains or in any other suitable manner. Connected to each side edge of the net is a chain it, which extends At a short distance from the front from the rod d to the rod 7t and serves to support the front portion of the scoop at the proper distance above thetrack. Upon each rod f, between rod is and a sliding washer 0 on the arm, is confined a coil-spring 19, whose tendency is to expand, and which therefore normally presses the washer o backward to the limit of its movement, which isdetermined by the length of chains w, these chains extending from rod 1* toward the rod 70, said rod 4 rigidly connecting the washers 0 and serving to brace the rear portion of arms f and keep them parallel.

As will be seen, the standards care provided with a spring-hinge near their upper ends, enablin g the upper ends of the standards to yield backward a limited distance, whereby a blow against rod d on the upper part of the not will be cushioned. This hinge connection consists simply of a rule-joint r, having but a limited backward movement, the upper part of the standard being kept normally pressed forward by means of a flat spring .9, secured to the post just below the joint.

Should it be desired to provide the motorman with means for bringing the scoop closer to the track at will, I prefer to employ the simple device shown most clearly in Fig. 4. These devices consist, essentially, of a footoperated bar t, having a suitable head on its upper end and extending down through an opening in the platform and connected at its lower end to the forward end of an angle-lever 'lb, the lower end of which is connected by'a loose link-joint t" to the rod Q7, which extends forward and is hooked over the rod about midway its length. By pressing down upon the rodt with the foot the fender will be drawn backward and down to the road-bed against the action of springs p, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4c, and when released said springs will automatically restore the fender to its normal position a little distance above the track. When the fender is removed, rod 11 is unhooked from bar 70 and is held up by means of a suitable hook 00, depending from the car-frame, and the foot-bar 2f falls until its head rests upon the platform practically flush therewith. \Vhen the scoop is folded up against the dashboard, the rod t is detached from the scoop and placed in a hook w, de" pending from bar 1".

It will be observed that when the scoop is down in operative position the rear ends of arms f extend through the slotted ends of the posts, bearing upon the rollers carried thereby,the washers 0 bearing directlyagainst the front faces of the posts, in which position it will be observed the springs serve to resiliently support the front end of the scoop. The chains are just long enough and springs 19 just strong enough to support the scoop normally at a suitable point above the road-bed, as is obvious. The rods incline upward and rearward from the contact-point of the scoop and are preferably curved slightly upward from a point near rollers e to the hooks g. By reason of the upward inclination of the arms and their free support at their upper rear ends (at a point above the contactpoint of the scoop) the scoop when struck by an object in front will move backward and downward to the surface of the road-bed. It will therefore be seen that by reason of this peculiar action of the scoop the blow will not only be cushioned, but the entrance of the object under the scoop will be effectually prevented. This is a valuable feature of the device, as it does away with a serious defect in the guards now in use. It will also be observed that the scoop has not only a bodily movement backward, but a sort of oscillating movement toward either side when the object strikes the scoop on either side of the center thereof, this peculiar oscillating movement being obtained by the free support of the arms in the slotted supports between the rollers and being advantageous in that it tends to throw the struck object off toward either side of the track if the object come in contact with the scoop-frame at one side of the center thereof.

To remove the scoop, it is simply necessary to first detach rod '0 from the scoop, then lift bar doff the ears 6 and withdraw the rear ends of armsf from between the rollers, leaving nothing attached to the car but the rigid posts and parts connected to rod l/'. To fold up the scoop against the dashboard, it is simply necessary to detach rod 1) from the scoop and then lift up the front portion of the scoop,-with drawing. the arms f from the rollers until hooks g engage the lower rollers, these hooks g and rollers serving as a sort of hinge. To look the scoop in its folded position, a hook s is attached to the upper edge of the dashboard and hooked over the rod h, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. In this folded position the net will be loosely folded up in front of the platform and dashboard, and if it be in the way of the coupling devices it may be easily moved by hand to one side out of the way.

The modification shown in Fig. 5 consists in extending the ends of bar 61 outward laterally and bending them back upon themselves before entering the holes in the ears I), forming spring-loops cl, which serve to resiliently support said rod d. The upper ends of chains a are connected to loops d, whereby the net is brought outward laterally far enough to shield the posts with their ears 1), thereby preventing a person falling into the net striking against the posts or ears andseriouslyinjuringhimself. Thesespringloops, as is obvious, also render the scoopframe and net more resilient.

It will be observed that the downward and forward extending chains 01, one being at each side of the guard-frame, do practically all the work of supporting said guard-frame, they being connected to the guard-frame at such points that the preponderance of weight in the guard-frame will be in the front of the points of connection, which manner of supporting said frame will cause the front portion thereof to normally tend downward and the rear portions of the upward-inclined side bars to normally bear upward against the upper rollers, these upper rollers thereby receiving practically all the thrust of the side bars. It will therefore be seen that whether the guardframe be struck by an object in front or be pulled by the pull-rod it will move backward and downward to the road-bed, wedging against the same, and that the rear ends of the side bars have a free swinging movement up and down as the guard-frame moves back and forth.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a car, supports carried' thereby, a resiliently-supported guardframe having rearward-extending side bars working through said supports, a roller carried by each of said supports upon which said side bars work, and hooks on the ends of said side bars adapted to en gage'said rollers, when the guard-frame is drawn forward and form a hinge-like connectionwith the supports.

2. The combination of a car, supports carried thereby, a guard-frame provided with side bars extending rearward and having a sliding connection with said supports, and devices carried by said side bars at their rear ends and adapted to automatically engage the supports without leaving the same when the guard-frameds drawn forward and form a hinge-like connection with said supports, whereby the guard-frame may be drawn forward and folded up. i

The combination ofa car, carrying pendent supports, a guard-frame having rearwardextending side bars slidingly engaging said supports, the rear ends of said bars being provided with hooks adapted when the frame .is drawn forward to engage the supports and act as a hinge, whereby said guard-frame maybe folded up against the dashboard, substantial] y as set forth.

4. The combination of a car, a pair of supports extending above and below the plat form, the upper ends of said supports being.

resiliently hinged and adapted to yield backward, a guard-frame extending forward from the lower ends of the supports, means for suspending the guard-frame from the upper hinged endsof the supports, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of a'car, supports carried thereby, each support carrying a roller, a guard-frame and means forfreely suspending'it from the car, said guard-frame having side bars extending rearward and inclining upward back of the point of suspension and bearing upward upon said rollers and having the extremities beyond said rollers free to oscillate up and down, and means for resiliently pressing the guard-frame forward.

6. The com bination of a car, supports thereon, a guard -frame extending forward from said supports and detachable therefrom, a not connected to the guard-frame at its lower edge, a cross-bar connected with the upper edge of the net and supported on said supports, said cross-bar having its ends formed into supporting-springs, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination of a car, a guard-frame projecting forward therefrom,a net connected to said guard-frame, a rod connected to the upper edge of said net, supports for this rod,

these so pports being set inward from the outer edges of the net and below said rod, said rod being provided with means for resilientlysupporting it, for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination of a car, a guard-frame resiliently supported thereon and projecting forward, a net connected at its lower edge to the guardframe, a cross-bar connected to the upper edge of the net and, supporting the frame, said cross-bar being supported on a stationary partof the car and having its ends extended laterally and formed into springloops lying above said stationary supporting part, for the purpose set forth.

' 9. The combination of a car,supports projectin g forward therefrom, a removable crossbar supported on said supports, the ends of said cross-bar extending beyond said supports and formed into spring-loops, a forward-projecting guardframe,and anet extending from said guard-frame to said cross-bar, the side edges of the net being connected to said outward-projecting spring-loop, for the purposes set forth.

10. The combination of a car, a guard'frame extending forward therefrom, said guardframe having a pair of side bars having a hinge -like connection with the car, springs surrounding said side bars for resiliently pressing forward said guard-frame, whereby said frame will have a resilient sliding movement back and forth and a hinge-like movement adapting it to be folded up against the dashboard, a slidable washer or plate on each of said sidebars to receive the thrust of the springs, a bar. connecting these washers or plates, and means for limitingthe movement of said washers or plates.

11. The combination of a car, a pair of supports depending therefrom, a guard-frame projeeting'forward fromlsaid supports and having rearward-extending side bars having a sliding connection thereto, said frame extending forward and down ward,springs keeping said frame resiliently forward, means limiting the action of said springs, said means consisting of washers slidable on said side bars and devices, as chains, connecting said washers with a forward part of the guardframe, suspending devices, as chains n, sus pending the guard-frame from a point above thecar-platform, and a net carried by said guard-frame, for the purposes set forth.

12. In combination with a car, supports depending therefrom,- a guard or fender frame, projecting forward and downward from said support and having a forward-and-backward movement with respect thereto, said frame having rearward-extending side bars supported on said supports ata point above the front edge of the guard-frame, said side bars having a free movement back and forth and laterally in said supports, means for resiliently pressing said frame forward, means for.

downward and forward, sliding washers or I signature, in the presence of two Witnesses, plates on the side bars and bearing against the supports, resilient means interposed between said washers and a part of the guard- 5 frame whereby said guard-frame is resiliently Witnesses:

this 21st day of January, 1809.

RICHARD F. PREUSSER.

O. D. DAVIS, WM. R. DAVIS.

pressed forward, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my 

